Q: When and why did you start dancing?
A: In January of 2009, I was attending a networking event and approached a new attendee to introduce myself and make her feel welcome. While we were getting acquainted, I couldn’t help notice she brought 4 boxes of breath mints with her and jokingly asked, “Were you worried we had bad breath, or is there something we need to know?”. She laughed and said she danced Argentine Tango, and you got accustomed to eating a lot of breath mints when you dance so close to someone. I said, “Argentine Tango, what’s THAT?” and she told me about the dance and a free class I could take at MUSC every Tuesday. I went to four classes and was hooked. (the class is still going on, but it’s a whopping $5.00 now)
Q: What are your favorite dances?
A: Argentine Tango is my main passion. I also love Zumba. Zumba is amazing exercise, (you get an average of 5000 steps in a hour and burn about 800 calories) but you’re dancing cha cha, merengue and other steps to lively, joyful music. You can’t leave a Zumba class in a bad mood. In a party “emergency”, I can get by with a shag, swing, or lindy, and can fake a cha cha or merengue, but I’m not very good at any of them. I would love to find the time to take regular Salsa lessons.
Q: I think we have all noticed your shoes! How do you select your shoes? Is there a statement you're trying to make?
A: Dance shoes need to be rugged and light. Since footwork, embellishments with the feet, ganchos (kicks) and other foot and leg movements are so integral to the dance, Tango dancers tend to gravitate towards beautiful shoes. The shoes do not have a sole that extends at all from the foot, they have leather soles, so you can slide your foot on the floor, and are light. The shoes are all mostly all leather and very comfortable. I bought all three of my pairs of dance shoes in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As for any statement, I don’t think so other than I love color and one must dress conservatively in both business and law, not only for convention, but because the beauty of fashion, as art, lies in the beholder and when I’m working, I’m sensitive to keep my fashion choices to a minimum so as not to have any negative feelings about my transferred to my client. Since dance is an expressive art, a little expression and color in fashion is fun. It’s also a great conversation starter and I make lots of friends with folks who comment on the shoes.
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